Cry Me a River 200K – near Minneapolis, MN

So while out visiting our nephews in Minnesota I decided to bring my bike and take part in a Minnesota Randonneurs brevet. In the US I’ve ridden significant miles from Massachussetts to Virginia but not much west of here. It meant my wife and I would have to drive 1200 miles each way vs. a simple 2 hour flight, but the adventure was worth all the time spent in the car. Back in February I convinced a high school friend, Eli who lives out there to do it with me so I knew I’d have good company.

The morning of the ride there was heavy rain and cool temps (relative to DC) in the area and if it had started at 7am, like 200K brevets around here we would have gotten soaked. The official start was at 8 though so we only had to deal with wet roads. The rest of the day featured strong south winds and clouds. The clouds were very welcome, but the wind was brutal! There were 7 of us doing the 200K, and a few more doing a 100K. About half of the riders were attempting their first brevet, which was interesting. According to the organizer about 15 fair-weather riders didn’t show unfortunately.

We straggled out of the parking lot near Saint Louis Park in 1’s and 2’s but the wind caused most of us to bunch up for protection. The first control was 46 miles to the southwest into the wind the whole time. Eli got 2 flats about halfway there but my frame pump, which I had yet to use for myself was awesome! I took hardly any effort pump his 23cm tire back up to normal pressure. The control was a welcome relief as I was not in the best of shape and the wind was wearing me out already! I haven’t ridden much since the 300K in mid May. Whoops…

Reversing direction out of the control felt like we were flying. With the strong wind now at our backs we could sustain 18mph without much effort. The biggest climb of the day was ahead though so we took it easy. The climb took us out of the Minnesota River valley up onto the plains. It was fairly long, but never steep and once up on the plains the wind was awesome! We had approximately 50 mostly north miles to go to Delano and on the due north stretches we could sustain 20+mph with hardly any effort.

The control at Delano, mile 99 was welcome but then we had to turn back south into the wind again which sucked. We were both tired, but I was feeling it more than Eli. He was a beast. Especially given that his previous longest ride ever had been 84 miles, done exactly a week previous. 10 miles on a wet crushed limestone railtrail didn’t help. It smoothed out the hills a little but the added resistance just further wore me out. The early flat tires ruled out the possibility of finishing in under 10 hours, but we powered on and came in around 10 hrs 25 mins. The finish was at someone’s house where they cooked some burgers and brats for us to recharge before driving home.

Overall it was a great day! I wish I had been in better shape so that I didn’t feel terrible near the end and I could have enjoyed it more but Eli and I worked well together and it was a good accomplishment for both of us. It was definitely worth driving the bike out there. He asked that the next time I want to do a 100+ mile ride to not invite him, but I think he was kidding. It was also great to meet some other riders whom I would never otherwise get to ride with. Randonneurs seem to be good folks no matter what part of the country you’re in.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2849328